First-generation college students are a diverse at-risk population and have continued to face challenges obtaining 4-year degrees. Access to postsecondary education has increased for first generation students. Academic and social programs and services at four-year institutions such as first-year seminars, summer bridge programs, service learning,…

This qualitative instrumental case study addressed the problem of Black males not receiving the support they need in higher education to be academically successful. The study's purpose was to identify if any parts of the historically Black college or university (HBCU) experience could be replicated at non-HBCUs to increase Black male support. The…

Researchers use data from the RAND American Mathematics Educator Study surveys of public school principals and teachers to investigate three school structures--referred to as "school opportunity structures" throughout this report--that may affect kindergarten through 8th grade (K-8) students' mathematics learning. These structures are…

Background: There is a need for engineering-specific theories and constructs to advance our understanding of student development. Student integration, widely used in educational research, is a suitable construct; however, it has also received some criticism. These critiques can be addressed by rethinking student integration and its use in the…

In April, at the Excellence at the Center Conference, I participated in a national discussion in my role as Managing Editor of "Communication Center Journal" (CCJ). During my contributions to that larger discussion I noted that I believe it is time for writers and future writers of our subset of communication studies to begin to view our…

This study was designed to determine the effect of writing center usage on the self-efficacy of nontraditional students in regard to their academic writing. The purpose of this study was to discover if more can done by post-secondary institutions to address the unique needs of nontraditional student writers through the use of auxiliary academic…

Students with disabilities have not been fully welcomed in higher education in spite of litigation, court cases, and positive shifts in public perceptions. The transition from high school to college is challenging for students without disabilities. Students with disabilities often get overlooked by their institution and overwhelmed during this…

Community colleges enroll a diverse population of military-affiliated students, including those still on active duty, reservists and veterans. According to 2015-16 federal data, student veterans accounted for about 4.8 percent of community college students, active-duty military students another 1.5 percent and reservists comprised 0.1 percent,…

Student success and graduation rates are a continuing challenge for higher education institutions. A growing number of states connect funding to learning outcomes such as student progression, retention, and graduation rates (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012; Complete College America, 2011; Diamond, 2012). Student attrition and graduation rates…

Virtually all elementary schools extend their activities beyond regular classroom instruction through varying approaches to and levels of supplemental support. These services are intended to support student learning and may be provided within the school or via referrals to external organizations in the community. While supporting the comprehensive…

The importance of cultural proficiency within communication centers has greatly been discussed in Students Helping Students: A Guide for Peer Educators on College Campuses by Karim and Ross, where they focus on ways in which peer consultants can gain and react with cultural understanding and acceptance for various people groups (2010). Conforming…

This dissertation acknowledges the fact that research regarding deaf student writers at the post-secondary level is practically void. To initiate an avenue of research that is meant to foreground future research regarding support services for deaf college student writers, I set out to find how college institutions are serving deaf student writers…

The communicative relationships between scientists and audiences they address beyond their specialized fields have become increasingly strained. These fractures result not simply from an ill-informed lay public, but from deeper trepidation about the ethos of science. This forum offers three distinct, yet intertwined, interdisciplinary perspectives…

Our research asks how communication centers can assist advanced graduate students in the sciences to foster the art of developing scientific presentations for expert, non-expert, and generalist audiences. In a sustained collaboration supported by a national grant, the communication center at a mid-sized public comprehensive regional university in…

The English Writing Center (WC) has recently become a writing support service in selective Lebanese universities even though it has been a common practice in Western universities for the last twenty years. The article from a university instructor's experience aims to bring forward the reasons the WC at Lebanese universities is slowly attracting…